Melbourne Demons vs Brisbane Lions Prediction: An entertaining top spots battle

This AFL clash between the Melbourne Demons and the Brisbane Lions will take place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground ﷽in round 18 of the competition. The home squad will be confident of taking advantage of the home ground, while the visiting Lions will seek to maintain their winning streak.

In their most recent contest, the Melbourne Demons were victorious on the road against St. Kilda, claiming a 79-58 victory for themselves. During a match that put an end to a losing streak of two games in a row, their chances of placing in the top three in the standings took a significant hit. The Demons suffered their sixth loss of the season when they were defeated by the GWS Giants at the beginning of July. As a result of this setback, the Demons are now a significant 16 points behind Collingwood, who is currently in first place on the ladder. With only eight points separating Melbourne and Brisbane in the standings, this is a major opportunity for Melbourne to move closer to the top three, but a loss would likely mean that they would have to give up on their aspirations of finishing in the top three. Due to a hamstring injury, Clayton Oliver will not be participating in this match for the Melbourne team.

The previous match between the Brisbane Lions and West Coast Eagles ended in a win of 116-35 for the Lions, and it was clear that the West Coast Eagles were no match for the Brisbane Lions. The Lions win over the Eagles in their game from the previous week gave them the opportunity to continue to build momentum as the home and away seasons draw closer to their conclusion. They have now won two games in a row, both of which have resulted in scores of over 100 points, and this has enabled them to keep their eight-point advantage over the team that comes up next in the table. Even though it is not important for the Lions to have a motive to beat the Demons, there is the additional motivation of opening up a larger advantage over their competitors on the ladder if they are successful in this match.

I anticipate a close contest between these two teams, given how evenly matched they are against one another. Nevertheless, this should be a significant encounter, and the fact that the Melbourne Demons play at home should be an advantage as well. I will not pick the Brisbane Lions, despite the fact that they have had a lot of fantastic winning runs recently. Instead, I am looking forward to seeing the Melbourne Demons secure a close home win.